Let me just say that this was sad. The weird Jackson history aside, it's never easy to watch a mother who has lost a child. But I do also need you to know that I was never into Michael Jackson. I didn't get the phenomenon. Shortly after Michael's death, a black friend said I probably didn't get it because I'm not black. And to that I say: neither was Michael Jackson.
Insert rimshot here.
So, to Katherine Jackson, or "Mrs. Jackson," as Oprah called her throughout the interview. This interview, like the one with J.K. Rowling or the cast of The Sound of Music, featured its very own graphic. Oprah's name was still in a bigger font than her interviewee's, but this time the ampersand dominated the graphic, so much so that it looked like Oprah and Katherine Jackson were interviewing an ampersand. Seriously, look at this thing:
The house in that image is Hayvenhurst, which has been the Jackson family home for the last 40 years. Oprah continued her habit this season of going to interview people in different locations, so she traveled to Encino, California, and sat with Mrs. Jackson in her home.
Mrs. Jackson told Oprah that Michael got his first nose job because he felt ugly and that his nose was too big. Then he just got addicted to the plastic surgery. Oprah said Michael told her in 1993 that he'd only had two surgeries, but Mrs. Jackson said he had more than that. She said at a certain point his nose just looked "like a toothpick." And as for the vitiligo, she says he did something about his skin tone on the parts of his body people would see (face, arms, torso) because he didn't want to look splotchy. But Mrs. Jackson has no idea exactly what he did. "I don't know what in the world he did to do that."
Michael married Lisa Marie Presley before his parents had even met her. When he called to tell his mother, he put Lisa Marie on the phone, and his mother didn't believe it was her. "She sounded like a black girl," Mrs. Jackson whispered, and Oprah told her it was okay to say that louder.
Apparently Mrs. Jackson (all the Jacksons?) is a Jehovah's Witness, and on the morning of Michael's death, she was doing her "field service," which is apparently what they call it when they go around knocking on innocent people's doors.
It was at this point that I noticed Oprah has a major bunion on her left foot. She was wearing a mule, which is different than the Louboutin heels she normally wears. I have no idea how she crams that thing into those super expensive shoes every show, but it does explain why she always seems incapable of placing her foot flat on the floor when she's wearing them. Virtually every episode, I worry about the structural integrity of those heels, since Oprah likes to put all the weight directly on them, instead of spreading it over the entire sole. Maybe I'm not painting the best picture here, so the next time I notice it, I'll get you a picture.
After pausing it to notice the bunion, I asked Katie to guess how many minutes had elapsed in the show. She said 22, thinking she was underestimating. Wrong. Only 19 minutes down, and so, so many to go.
The interior portion of the interview, which made up about three-quarters of the show, was shot in some really weird soft focus. It was not the sharp HD I've gotten used to, and it was rather disconcerting.
When they went outside, Joe Jackson, the patriarch of this family, joined them. For some reason, Oprah's people did not give him his own microphone, and instead chose to use a boom to capture his sound. Not a good call when you're interviewing a dude who mumbles. Also? Joe Jackson is one seriously creepy, creepy dude.
There was a bit of tension when Oprah began by asking Joe whether he thought Michael had been afraid of him. Joe said, "I never beated [sic] Michael like the media said." Oprah said that Michael told her that Joe had beaten him. Joe didn't respond to that, and instead went on some ramble about his kids not ending up dead like a lot of kids from Gary, Indiana, did.
Oprah didn't let up, though, and Mrs. Jackson apparently didn't want to listen to Joe pussyfoot around the issue any longer. "You might as well admit it. That's the way black people raise their children," she said.
Yikes.
"He used a strap," Mrs. Jackson said. And when Oprah asked if Joe regretted that, he said he would do it all over again because it kept his kids out of jail. He is proud that he had nine kids, and none of them have been to jail. Oprah literally applauded that, like keeping your kids out of jail is a lofty goal. If so, my parents' standards are way too high. I'm a friggin' golden child in Joe Jackson's world.
When Michael died, his kids went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. Some of their other grandchildren also lived there at the time, and still do. The whole clan came out to greet Oprah. They all introduced themselves, but Oprah seemed to love "Jermajesty" (I can only guess he's one of Jermaine's kids) the best. She bowed to him more than once because his name made her feel like she had to.
Michael's daughter, Paris, has freakishly pretty eyes. But not one of his three children look a thing like him. I'm just sayin'.
A tidbit from Paris: Michael Jackson made the best French toast in the world.
And now I retire and hope to wake up refreshed enough to handle an interview featuring the devil incarnate himself, George W. Bush.
I too, have noticed that bunion. Yikes.
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